The present invention relates to systems for the dispersion of fragrance in laundry during the drying cycle of a dryer and in particular to a dispersion system using tumble sheets such as fabric softener sheets to facilitate the dispersion of the fragrance.
A wide variety of laundry products include perfumes for imparting a pleasant fragrance to clothing and/or other textiles, such as towels, sheets, etc. Such perfumes may be carried in laundry detergents, bleaches, or softeners to be dispersed during the washing process of a washing machine or added to “tumble sheets” during the drying cycle of a dryer. Tumble sheets are fabric-like sheets that readily intermingle with clothing to disperse laundry treatment materials including antistatic agents, wrinkle reducing agents, stain repellents, odor neutralizers, softening agents, fabric refreshers, soil shielding/soil releasing agents, ultraviolet light protection agents, water repellency agents, insect repellency agents, and dye transfer inhibitors. These laundry treatment materials often have a waxy consistency that helps retain the treatment materials on the tumble sheets for a period of time to ensure good dispersion of these materials on the laundry items during the drying cycle.
Some perfume agents including those associated with freshness are highly volatile and thus may be easily lost during the high temperature manufacture of the tumble sheet. U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,969 recognizes that the loss of these “high note” fragrance components may be reduced by altering the normal manufacturing process in which the perfumes are mixed with other laundry treatment components and applied at high temperature to the tumble sheet. Instead, the teachings of this patent are to apply the perfume after the tumble sheet is coated with other laundry treatment components immediately before it is cut and packaged. It was unexpectedly found that the later-added perfume is well absorbed by the tumble sheet when added at a later point in the manufacturing process.